Tropical Smoothie Cafe — Restaurant in Colonial Heights

BEWARE! This is literally the WORST tropical smoothie and fast food establishment that I’ve ever been to in my life. I wish I could give it 0 stars. I ordered my family’s meals from our car on the interstate because we were traveling. My order was supposed to be ready at 3:42 and was not ready until 4:15pm. On top of that, 2 different staff members decided that they were out of strawberries after multiple people had already paid for their order… when another patron asked for the manager, suddenly, they found the strawberries! I still didn’t receive strawberries in the smoothies I ordered.

I asked one girl where my smoothies were and she said they were being poured into the cups and would be right out. She told me this 3-4 times in a period of 20 minutes. She was lying and basically pacing around while no smoothies were being made. I literally had to start yelling to get my freaking smoothies so I could leave. There were 6+ people working and barely anyone in the store.

The guy making the food messed up our order bc he gave my son a chicken and cheese quesadilla and we just ordered a cheese quesadilla. My other son order the banana crunch with no crunch. He included the crunch and didn’t even cut the banana up. My sandwich had a full chicken breast, not cut up in it.

When I asked for a refund bc I had to wait 45 minutes for my order after having placed it an hour before, the manager stated that she couldn’t refund an online order. She was actually nice and went and made the smoothies when I asked for them while the other worthless workers sat around.

If this were my establishment, I would have fired 3 people right there on the spot. They were lazy and standing around. Don’t go here. You will regret...

I used to get smoothie bowls all of last year (2024). Granted, I hadn’t been in probably 6 months (and I also never got a bowl from the colonial heights location), but I’m just flabbergasted about the changes in their bowls. I used to regularly get the green bowl that they had and the açaí one. I never had a problem with eating them. They literally used to be the consistency of a smoothie. That’s why they’re called smoothie bowls. Today I got the bahama mama bowl and the entire thing was a block of ice (except the toppings).

So I went back inside to ask why it was frozen. I thought they were made fresh (again, I used to get them all the time). The manager informed me that they are not made fresh and that I needed to let it sit for a while. Who has time to let it sit for a while? I’m on break. 😩 Of course that’s not mentioned on the menu. So I asked to get whatever bowl isn’t frozen. I selected the Greek yogurt bowl, received it and left back out. Then I realized the yogurt bowl is a few dollars less than the bahama mama so I went back inside to inquire about the difference. The manager simply gave me a full refund. I didn’t ask for a full refund, I just wanted the difference. But I’m glad she refunded me because if you look at the photos, the blueberries are fresh, but the strawberries clearly aren’t. They’re frozen, thawed, and on the verge of spoiling. I didn’t get to take a picture of the bowl that I originally ordered, but the strawberries were the same.

I’m satisfied with how the manager handled it, but I won’t be returning to TSC. Definitely will...

Went to tropical cafe 190 southgate square colonial heights va 23834, Ordered a chipotle chicken sandwich with no bacon, I sat down and waited for my order to be made. After waiting 20 minutes I noticed they had put one order in the corner of the register. I continued to wait thinking it was a order for someone else. After waiting 50 minutes i went to the cashier and asked her for my food. She then handed me the food that has been sitting in the counter for 30 minutes. I opened the order and there was bacon in it. I told the cashier i had ordered no bacon. The manager came from the office screaming what do you want. I had told her that my order is wrong. she said it can be fixed but he will have to wait. I told them i can not wait another 45 minutes. Manager told me well that’s exactly what you will have to do.

I told them to cancel my order. They said its fine they will cancel it i waited for my money back because i had paid cash. Manager went back in the office and the cashier started to take other customers. After 15 minutes cashier asked me why am I waiting. I told her i was waiting for my refund. The cashier said she is going to ask the manager in the office. I could hear them talking in the office and the manager told her cashier to say manager is not here anymore. I was given no money back. I did not receive any food. I asked her to give me my original receipt. She said she threw it in one of the trash and will not retrieve it.

No food, no money back and no receipt. ...